Over the past 50 years hydrogenated oils containing trans fatty acids have become a prevalent part of the diet in developed countries. Research into the role fats and oils play in human health has indicated that consumption of trans fatty acids is associated with increased incidences of cancer, heart disease, elevated cholesterol levels and a host of other health problems. Although many consumers are aware of the negative impact of trans fats, these hydrogenated oils have become so commonplace in prepared foods that it is a major feat to avoid them.
The demand for a healthy alternative to trans fatty acids and saturated fats creates technological hurdles for the food manufacturing industry. It is difficult to eliminate trans and saturated fats from a food formulation where the goal is to transform an oil, which is liquid at room temperature to a fat, which is ‘solid’ at room temperature to enhance the texture and appearance of a food product.
In the food industry there have been many attempts to find alternative components that can provide the desired features of texture, structuring, stability and taste that are normally found in animal and vegetable fats or hydrogenated oils. One alternative, organogels, have been recognized for their potential to be used to reduce oil migration in multi component foods and to act as an alternative to butter or margarine. Organogels can be used to provide structure to edible oils thereby reducing the need for saturated and trans fatty acids. While the potential of organogels as soft materials for use in the food industry is recognized, there is a lack of good food grade organogelators. There remains an unmet need for food grade compositions that can provide the functionality and properties of a solid fat at a reasonable cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,323 describes pharmaceutical and cosmetic compositions comprising a mixture of a gelled oil and an aqueous gel. The oil may be gelled with ethylcellulose by heating to 140° C. to dissolve the ethylcellulose.
WO2008/081175 describes compositions containing an active agent for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications, similar to those of U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,323. The compositions are homogeneous mixtures (not emulsions) of an oil component with an aqueous component. The oil component is gelled with ethylcellulose at 120° C. or 150° C. prior to mixing with the aqueous component. The aqueous component is gelled with a conventional cosmetic gelling agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,913 describes edible fat particles for incorporation into textured protein meat analog products. The edible fat products are made by gelling an oil with ethylcellulose at 180° C. The gelled fat is then added to the meat analog product. There does not appear to be any disclosure of including a surfactant in the gelled oil.
M. A. Ruiz-Martinez et al. in Il Farmaco, 58 (2003) 1289-1294 describe compositions formed by dispersing ethylcellulose with certain polyethylene glycol (PEG)-olivate ester surfactants in olive oil at 100° C. Although these compositions are described as oleogels, the description and rheological data in the reference confirm that they are not, in fact, gels. In particular, the measured ratios of elastic modulus to viscous modulus (G′/G″) for the compositions are much less than 1 when measured at 1 Hz, which is consistent with viscous liquids or pastes but not gels.